Italian Regulators Investigate Glovo & Deliveroo Over Rider Treatment & Ethical Claims

Key Takeaways

• Ethical Commitments Questioned: Italian regulators are examining whether Glovo and Deliveroo promoted misleading claims about ethics and social responsibility in communications directed at consumers.
• Rider Management at the Center: The investigations focus on working conditions, legal compliance, and the use of operational models and algorithms in managing riders.
• Separate Investigations Opened: One probe targets Glovoapp23, Foodinho and Glovo, while a separate investigation involves Deliveroo.
• Inspections Already Conducted: Officials carried out inspections at company premises with assistance from the Guardia di Finanza’s Special Antitrust Unit.

Deep Dive

Italy’s competition authority has started investigating companies tied to the Glovo group and Deliveroo Italy, raising questions about whether the food delivery firms’ public messaging around ethics and social responsibility matched conditions experienced by riders on the ground.

The Italian Competition Authority said it has opened one investigation involving Glovoapp23, Foodinho and Glovo, this runs parallel to a separate probe into Deliveroo, over possible unlawful conduct connected to the provision of home food delivery services.

According to the authority, the concerns stem from communications directed at consumers, including corporate ethics codes and the “About us” sections published on company websites. Regulators said the companies appeared to promote an image built around ethical commitments and social responsibility standards that may not have accurately reflected their actual practices.

The watchdog’s concerns focus in particular on working conditions and legal compliance tied to the management of riders, including matters connected to the operational systems and algorithms used by the companies.

The investigations underscore the continuing scrutiny facing gig economy platforms across Europe, where regulators, labor advocates and policymakers have increasingly examined how delivery and ride-hailing companies manage workers while simultaneously presenting themselves as socially responsible businesses. Public messaging around sustainability, fairness and ethical practices has become a central part of many platform companies’ branding efforts in recent years, even as debates over worker protections and algorithmic management continue to intensify.

As part of the probes, officials from the Italian Competition Authority carried out inspections Tuesday at the offices of Foodinho, Glovo and Deliveroo. The inspections were conducted with support from the Special Antitrust Unit of Italy’s financial police, the Guardia di Finanza.

The authority did not announce any conclusions or sanctions and said the investigations remain ongoing.

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